CINCINNATI - It came down to the final match, but in the end the Xavier women's tennis team fell to cross-town foe Cincinnati, 4-3, at the Xavier Tennis Courts on Wednesday. Junior Kaitlyn Zinn came from behind to win her Flight 5 match and tie the dual meet at 3-3, but the Bearcats pulled out the team win with a tiebreak victory in the day's final match.

"It was a great match today," XU head coach Eric Toth said. "Both teams played exceptionally well, but were just a couple points short, and that's what it came down to today. Give credit to Cincinnati, because they played really well today. Hopefully this experience will put us in a position to get the win next time we are in a similar situation."

The Musketeers opened the dual with a convincing sweep of the doubles action, taking an early 1-0 lead. Seniors Kara Courtney and Jeanette Feider finished first for XU, defeating UC's Jenny Rowen and Elizabeth Young 8-4 in their Flight 2 showdown.

Junior Jill Ducro and Aylin Seyalioglu secured the doubles point for the Musketeers with a victory in their Flight 3 match, besting the Bearcats' Sophia Ismail and Jessica Wise 8-5. Putting the finishing touches on the sweep, sophomores Kelsey Kinnard and Tifanie Treece paired up to win their Flight 1 match against Valeriya Dandik and Ksenia Slynko of UC.

Once singles action began, the Bearcats turned the deficit into a two-point advantage by winning the first three matches to finish. Courtney broke the streak, returning to the Musketeer lineup with a win over Slynko in the Flight 1 match. After Courtney won the first set, 6-2, and Slynko evened the match with a 6-4 victory in the second set, Courtney slammed the door in the decisive final set, blanking her foe 6-0 to pull the Musketeers within one.

Zinn tied the dual meet at 3-3 with a victory in her Flight 5, defeating Wise in three sets. After losing the first set, 6-4, Zinn rebounded to win the next two and the match. She took the second 6-3 and won the decisive third set 6-4, setting up a dramatic end to the meet.

Squaring off with Rowen in Flight 2 action, Treece battled into a third set by rebounding from a 7-6 loss in the first set with a 6-0 victory in the second. Both players held serve in the final set, forcing a tiebreaker, which Rowen pulled out 7-4 to give the Bearcats the win.

The Musketeers have just one match remaining before heading to the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. XU will conclude the regular season at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1 against Northern Kentucky.